Revolutionary Racer Anthy
by ShiraCirca
Summary: A silly mostly Fluff AU in which Anthy is a professional F1 driver and Utena is the ace mechanic who built her car. There's some actual racing involved, but the focus is mainly on their alone time together. Contains lots of Utena x Anthy. Standard disclaimers apply, I do not own any of these characters nor Revolutionary Girl Utena, all characters (c) respective copyright holders.


Revolutionary Racer Anthy

* * *

"Hi hi, is everyone out there ready~!?" The roar of a million voices flooded the air, nearly drowning the chipper voice that spilled out over the crowd. Packed tightly into the coliseum seats that circled the field below, a buzzing swarm of bodies shifted and shuffled about, chanting and cheering at the top of their lungs until the discord of their collective shouts melted together into a single, overwhelming storm. As the crowd churned and flowed across the stands, the rumble of a hundred engines echoed across the field and a parade of the latest high performance race cars rolled across a winding track and made their way to the starting line. Caught in the shadow of the clouds, a grand, glass faced tower rose up from the north side of the stadium and held the afternoon sun in its eyes. From the top of that tower, a pair of announcers snatched up their microphones and shouted out gleefully onto the stadium below.

"This is your magnificent announcer E-ko...

"...and your mysterious announcer F-ko!"

"Hey, Did you know, did you know? The racers are all in position for the second race of the seventy-eighth King's Grand Prix~!"

"Is everyone out there getting excited!?"

As they spoke, the formless sea of sound that filled the air shifted, surging down onto the field in a torrent of frantic cheers and shrill whistles. While the fans stood and cast encouragement over the field, the drivers all opened their doors, stepped outside and waved to their fans before hopping back into their cars, revving their engines loudly and anxiously awaiting the starting flag. At very front of the pack, a confident driver in a slick white fire suit and a tinted helmet rested her hand across the slick pink hood of her growling F1 racer as the stadium erupted into a storm of furious applause. As the midsummer breeze swept across the field, the lead driver lifted off her helmet and smiled at the fans as the wind scattered her hair across her shoulders.

"Oooh, F-ko, look down there, isn't that the winner of last week's race?"

"It is, it is! She's been the top ranking racer in the qualifiers for the past six weeks running, Himemiya Anthy~!"

Hearing her name from the speakers at the edge of the track, Anthy turned and waved at the announcers' loft before lowering her eyes and glaring coldly at the executive suite just below them. Though she couldn't see them through the tinted glass, she knew the owner of this track and the man in charge of the Grand Prix were watching her from there and the very thought made her scowl. As the cheering crowd drowned out the commentary coming over the loudspeakers, Anthy slipped on her helmet and climbed into her car. With the waves of chants and cheering threatening to crash down and bury even the roar of the engines below, a shrill chime cut through the sky and the crowd quickly fell silent. The smooth face of the glass tower flickered as a large projector turned the tinted windows into a colossal grandfather clock. The crowd in the stands felt their breath catch in their throat while the drivers all watched time slip away until only a few seconds remained before the race began.

"Driver's ready!?" The announcers shouted through the silence and their voices echoed on the midsummer breeze. As Anthy steadied her breath and shifted into gear, a warm, familiar voice crackled over her headset just as the announcers began counting down with the crowd.

"Himemiya..."

"Five!"

"Yes, Utena?"

"Four!"

"Well, not that you need it, but, good luck."

"Three!"

Beneath her helmet, Anthy smiled fondly and closed her eyes. "Thanks. I'll see you at the finish line."

"Two! One! And~ GO!"

* * *

"Haaaaah..." Anthy yawned wide, squeezing her eyes shut and grabbing her helmet from a hook at the back of her locker. Though it was only just past noon, the day was wearing on her heavily and she sighed and her shoulders sank. _The race won't be finished for a couple hours, and after that it will take another hour to get home... _She smiled slightly as she lowered her head and closed her eyes. _Maybe I can talk Utena into washing my hair for me tonight._ Stepping into the air conditioned locker room, she unzipped the top of her fire suit and wiped the sweat from her face and neck, grateful to finally be free of the sweltering summer breeze.

As she stood before her locker, she paused and placed a finger to her lips. _Why did we bother building a locker room in the first place again...? Ah..._ A spark of inspiration struck Anthy and she suddenly perked up. Pulling her locker open, she rifled around through a small cabinet at the bottom and pulled out a small piece of stationary, a red marker, and a strip of tape. After a moment's toil, she slid open the locker marked 'Tenjou Utena' and attached the stationary, now adorned with a large red heart, to the inside of the door. _There we go. I knew there was a reason I insisted on having these._ Smiling, Anthy grabbed a sweat rag and patted herself dry, wiping the grease and oil from her hands before heading into the garage.

Unlike the other racers on the Grand Prix circuit, Anthy's garage was a scarcely large enough for a single car, let alone the five to eight cars that many other drivers maintained as backups and alternates. In fact, not only did they have only one car but also just one driver and just one mechanic, making Anthy's team the smallest in the circuit's history. Because of this, the man who started the Grand Prix, Mr. Regal, had sent dozens of inspectors to their garage to investigate allegations that Anthy was using illegal parts in her car or that they had somehow tampered with the track itself. Of course, Anthy herself wasn't surprised in the least; she was the only woman in the Grand Prix and many of the other drivers, particularly former champions, were less than willing to accept her as their superior. Still, she wasn't the only one responsible for her recent victory. Rather, she knew very well that her success was a cooperative effort and one that she could only claim half of the credit for. The other half belonged to the girl standing in the garage in blue coveralls, covered in grease and soot and leaning deep beneath the hood of Anthy's bright pink race car. The moment Anthy stepped out of the locker room and saw her at work, she blushed lightly and lost any hold she had on her thoughts.

"Utena..." Anthy whispered to herself as the cool air from the locker room swept her hair over her shoulders and brushed the side of her face. For a almost a minute, Anthy found herself transfixed, staring fondly as Utena reached deep into engine block and tightened a loose bearing and then pulling off her gloves and sliding her hands along slowly along the coolant tubes to check for leaks. It wasn't just the sight of Utena with her hair disheveled and her face smudged with soot that captured Anthy's attention, though that was certainly a big part of it; somehow, as if they were communicating in a language beyond words, Anthy could sense the care and affection in Utena's hands as she worked. As Anthy reached behind her and closed the locker room door, the loud click of its latch echoed through the garage and Utena turned toward her and smiled.

"Ah, Himemiya." She pushed herself up and set her wrench down on a cart beside her. "I just finished checking the engine again, it looks like it'll run really smooth today."

Anthy smiled fondly and took a few steps toward the open hood. "To be honest, sometimes I wish we didn't have to go through so much trouble just to take part in a race..."

"Yeah..." Utena blinked a bead of sweat from her eye and wiped it away with the back of her hand as she moved over to Anthy's side. "I guess we should've expected it, but I didn't think all those old men would get so upset when we started winning..."

Laughing softly, Anthy leaned against Utena's arm and lowered her voice. "If we had a choice, I'd rather not live in a world with so many old men who call themselves Kings..."

"Well then," Utena leaned back, feeling the light pounding of Anthy's heart against her arm. "Do you wanna go home early then?"

Looking up, Anthy smiled brightly and slid her hand around Utena's waist "Yes. Let's."

"H-hey, Himemiya... I'm still all covered in sweat-" Utena glanced aside even as she returned Anthy's embrace, holding her eyes away for only a moment before looking down at Anthy's face as she rested her head against Utena's chest.

"So am I. Is there something wrong... with being covered in sweat?"

The smooth, soothing timbre of her voice worked its way into Utena's ears and she blushed, embracing Anthy and pressing her lips against Anthy's forehead. As they stood soaking in one another's scent, their hands found one another and they wove their fingers together so tightly that not even the wind could pass through them. As she listened to the syncopation of their heartbeats, Utena sighed softly.

"You're right... it'd be much better if we never had to worry about what role old men think we should be playing..." She lowered her face and pressed her forehead against Anthy's, smiling as she met her gaze.

"Then let's forget about them..." Anthy eyes lit up, "Even if we only have a few minutes until the race begins..."

As they drew their faces closer together and slowly shut their eyes, a quick chirping chime echoed through the garage and interrupted their thoughts. Reaching down into her pocket, Anthy retrieved a small cell phone and flipped it open.

"Juri? What's wrong?" Anthy drew back as Utena watched the surprise on her face fade into annoyance. "...Alright, I'll be right there." She flipped her phone shut and pressed her cheek against Utena's chest. "It looks like we're running late for the race."

"Already?" Utena glanced up at her clock and gave a heavy sigh before giving Anthy a warm smile. "I guess it's time then."

Anthy nodded and tried to pull away only to find that her fingers were still bound up tightly in Utena's grasp. Startled for a moment, they each pulled their hands apart slowly and Anthy moved around to the other side of the car and climbed inside. As she started the engine and Utena opened the garage door, she caught a glimpse of something magnificent shining in the corner of Utena's eyes. As she lowered her headset, she heard Utena's voice in her ears.

"Hey, Himemiya... let's-" She blushed as and glanced aside as she stood just inside the garage door. "Let's go home early tonight."

Shifting into gear and teasing the accelerator, Anthy grinned coyly and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "Of course."


End file.
